Those Horrible Mutants

[Old Man]

Isn't Jubilee too young to be doing that spread leg pose? Seriously, she's like what, 14?

 

I think she's aged to the point where she's one of the veterans on the team.  Whether that makes her legal or not, I don't know.

[Ninja-Bear]

Thanks Soleir Noir! Wow did I butched the title.

[Houston GM]

1 - How would the mutants react to such a society?

2 - How would we stop this from being an us/them campaign?

 

I'm assuming Armature is in the same campaign, so the details of the world are reasonably accurate.

 

The laws are American laws. The U.S. is one country. This is one government / population against a powerful minority population.

 

The sensible option is for the mutants to seek allies outside of the country. If I were a mutant, I'd be seeking asylum with other countries who would treat me better. A lot of Jewish scientists escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to the U.S. when they saw the way the wind was blowing. The U.S. benefited greatly from this brain trust. Germany suffered the consequence of this brain drain.

 

A smart country would offer all law-abiding mutants asylum as a way to boost their own power on the world stage. In addition to offering asylum, offer the mutants jobs based on their powers.

 

A smart (and powerful) mutant would point out these advantages when seeking asylum with other countries.

 

After establishing this kind of relationship, you can establish an underground railroad to help mutants escape to this country. The country would seek plausible deniability ("It's not our mutants running the railroad. Ours are here. Those are your mutants.")

[kahuna's bro]

well put

[Nadrakas]

40K Reference:  "Purge The Unclean."

 

That being said...

 

If people suddenly started manifesting powers -- say a brother, sister, cousin, a good friend:  You know these people pretty well -- people who aren't violent, then having "Powers" like flight or telekinesis isn't really going to change that (A few assumptions here...ok?).  Would most people with family or friends who are Mutants really turn on them? It would, in the big scheme of things, depend upon the background of the individuals involved, but I don't think that the majority of people would turn on the people they know.

 

For example:  If my 9-year old Daughter suddenly started manifesting Powers similar to someone like Shadow Cat, I would be a little freaked out at first, but she'd still be my Daughter.  I'd still love her, be worried for her safety, try to help her and I certainly wouldn't let anyone take her away to any "Camps" -- over my dead body!

 

Now for the "Extreme" Take...

As for Governments: I think there are two potentials here, neither of which are mutually exclusive.

 

1)  Coop the Mutants to work for the Government.  Offer families of Mutants, especially young ones, a place for their children to be safe and learn to control their Powers.  Offer older Mutants the opportunity to Serve their Country and be Heroes (ie: Famous).  Baring that, there is always the coercive method -- force the Mutants to cooperate by holding family members captive, brain washing the Mutants when they are young, even having a powerful Mental Mutant alter the minds of Mutants to be loyal to the Government.

 

2) Persecute the Mutants:  There are always those who will use fear to gain more Power, to Control Others, in the name of National Security.  Small at first, with discussions of the "Potential Threat" that Mutants pose.  Then, if (probably when) a mutant commits a Violent Crime, the Rhetoric would be ramped up.  Every "Mutant Incident" would be magnified out of Proportion to it's true nature -- imagine if a school were leveled (even accidentally) like how Scott Summers did in Wolverine.  Or if a kid who's been bullied his whole life, manifests Mutant Powers and kills his tormentors (and maybe others) in a "Mutant School Massacre."  Each incident would be used to drum up support for legislation to expand Government Power:

 

"The Powers these Mutants wield are dangerous.  They can't even control them, and for the protection of America's Citizens they must be Registered and Tracked.  That is why today, I am Sponsoring this amendment to the Patriot Act, the 'Mutant Identification and Protection Clause.'  It will provide protections for all Mutants, while giving Peace of Mind to those without Normal People."

- Some Senator, Some State

 

As I said, these two are not mutually exclusive.  The Government could Recruit mutants to work for them in order to combat the "Threat" posed by "Rogue" mutants.  Perhaps some Mutants are actually a Threat (Like Magneto...), but most would be just like the rest of us -- except they have Powers.

 

And it would "Officially Begin."  Monitoring, Collecting, Recruiting, Neutralizing...War.

 

 

~ M

[kahuna's bro]

supernatural and unnatural investigations tactical squads aka  S,U,I.T.S

 

not bad I like it, good work

[drunkonduty]

I think she's aged to the point where she's one of the veterans on the team.  Whether that makes her legal or not, I don't know.

 

Mmm, okay. Maybe my outrage is misplaced... Maybe.

[bigbywolfe]

Mmm, okay. Maybe my outrage is misplaced... Maybe.

She has aged to at least 18 or 19 once but that has been retconned years ago.  I think they usually present her as 16-ish.  They do the same thing to Kitty.  She had a PhD and Masters degree and someone decided to revert her to 19, give her DD boobs as big as Storm or Rogue (totally changing her body type) and ignore that she had finished college and dated Wisdom for half a decade while Colossus was "dead".  

[Old Man]

I can't even remember if Jubilee is still a vampire or not.  I suppose it depends on which of the thirty X-titles you're reading.

[drunkonduty]

After my last post I had a flick through WIkipedia to get the low-down on Jubilee. It was, er, confusing. I think she's a vampire at the moment but seriously I don't think I can bring myself to give a rat's arse about such a convoluted and messy story arc. I used to like her character.

 

Re. Kitty being turned into DD (You mean Daredevil, right? ) just a big ol' sigh from me on that one.

 

Hacks and crap retcons; why I can't be buggered with comics. But this is for another thread.

[Nadrakas]

After my last post I had a flick through WIkipedia to get the low-down on Jubilee. It was, er, confusing. I think she's a vampire at the moment but seriously I don't think I can bring myself to give a rat's arse about such a convoluted and messy story arc. I used to like her character.

 

Re. Kitty being turned into DD (You mean Daredevil, right? ) just a big ol' sigh from me on that one.

 

Hacks and crap retcons; why I can't be buggered with comics. But this is for another thread.

Kitty is...Daredevil???    No other comment needed (if true)...

 

"Sigh"

 

 

~ M

[BlueCloud2k2]

If people suddenly started manifesting powers -- say a brother, sister, cousin, a good friend: You know these people pretty well -- people who aren't violent, then having "Powers" like flight or telekinesis isn't really going to change that (A few assumptions here...ok?). Would most people with family or friends who are Mutants really turn on them? It would, in the big scheme of things, depend upon the background of the individuals involved, but I don't think that the majority of people would turn on the people they know.

 

 

 

For example: If my 9-year old Daughter suddenly started manifesting Powers similar to someone like Shadow Cat, I would be a little freaked out at first, but she'd still be my Daughter. I'd still love her, be worried for her safety, try to help her and I certainly wouldn't let anyone take her away to any "Camps" -- over my dead body!

 

 

Nadrakas, you are a reasonable person. I bet if one of you children (a few years down the road) decided to come out of the closet ("Mom, dad, don't freak out. I'm gay.") you would still accept your child.

 

How many parents around the country disown their children for being gay? For marrying someone not of the same ethnicity. The same Religion.

 

I'm a neo-pagan, and my grandmother has pretty much told me that me, my wife, and our son (b/c we are raising him to be such) are all going to hell. I should also point out that she has also told me that if I were gay or had brought home a black girl I would no longer be welcome in her house (she barely tolerates my heathenism).

 

So parents freaking out and kicking their kid out of the house because they were mutants (especially AFTER a major incident)? Yeah, I can easily see it. I think anyone who is part of a minority can.

[Nadrakas]

Nadrakas, you are a reasonable person. I bet if one of you children (a few years down the road) decided to come out of the closet ("Mom, dad, don't freak out. I'm gay.") you would still accept your child.

 

How many parents around the country disown their children for being gay? For marrying someone not of the same ethnicity. The same Religion.

 

I'm a neo-pagan, and my grandmother has pretty much told me that me, my wife, and our son (b/c we are raising him to be such) are all going to hell. I should also point out that she has also told me that if I were gay or had brought home a black girl I would no longer be welcome in her house (she barely tolerates my heathenism).

 

So parents freaking out and kicking their kid out of the house because they were mutants (especially AFTER a major incident)? Yeah, I can easily see it. I think anyone who is part of a minority can.

I try to be reasonable...but it's hard at times.

 

My wife and I talked about this a loooong time ago, before we were even married, about this and a great many other things.  Whatever our children decide to do is good with us (Some exceptions exist, like becoming a criminal...).  If either one, later on, is straight/gay/lesbian/bi then it wouldn't matter, as long as their in a loving & caring relationship.  Same goes for other things -- Religion, Politics, etc. Life is too short for hate.

 

"Sigh"...I saw too much of that when I was in the AOR (Iraq/Afghanistan) & other places around the world.

 

BTW: Wiccan family here.   (And if the kids decide on something else...then that's cool.).

 

I'm sorry about you're Grandmother.  My Brother has done the same to us (except he tried to forcibly convert our children...)

 

Peace...and Blessed Be.

 

 

~ M

[Old Man]

I can handle it if my kid were to bring home an SO of the same sex and/or another race.  But any kid of mine will learn the proper usage of "their" and "you're" or they'll be disowned.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Grammar Nazi much, old man?

[Old Man]

The best.  Or the worst.  Depending on your ability to employ basic grammar.

[Nadrakas]

The best.  Or the worst.  Depending on your ability to employ basic grammar.

They're, They're...

 

~ M

 

(That was meant as a very bad grammar joke...)

[Christopher]

Here is a world in which mutants came in and normal humans got so scared of them that instead of simply persecuting them and treating them like another minority race, the authorities have gone to the extreme and unofficially declared a kind of war on the mutants.  They have been rounded up and placed in "control centers".  Of course not all the mutants will go willingly. 

 

1 - How would the mutants react to such a society?

2 - How would we stop this from being an us/them campaign?

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

2. In a way you forced a "Us vs Them", because anything on the level of "War against X" will result in X trying to defend it's freedom. Wheter X is Drugs, Terrorism or Mutants is not really relevant.

You could make the "Us" a bit more inclusive by including the family of the mutants and other "normals" as others suggested. But overall you have at least two clearly defined factions that are at clear odds about one thematic. And one side is willing to use force, with no other (like the law) clearly stepping in.

 

1. Wait, Soceity or Government? There is a lot of interaction in the Soceity where the Government has no reach. What you describe is the Government acting against mutants, but the Soceity not nessesarily following. A large part of Marvels "sucks to be a mutant" verse is based around large parts of Soceity condemming mutants more then the actual government (and the government is at tops following directions that are already there). Some people mentioned the successfull protection of Jews and Disabeled people against Nazie Germany.

Also Soceities are notoriously factured in several subgroups that partially overlap.

 

Nadrakas, you are a reasonable person. I bet if one of you children (a few years down the road) decided to come out of the closet ("Mom, dad, don't freak out. I'm gay.") you would still accept your child.

 

How many parents around the country disown their children for being gay? For marrying someone not of the same ethnicity. The same Religion.

 

I'm a neo-pagan, and my grandmother has pretty much told me that me, my wife, and our son (b/c we are raising him to be such) are all going to hell. I should also point out that she has also told me that if I were gay or had brought home a black girl I would no longer be welcome in her house (she barely tolerates my heathenism).

 

So parents freaking out and kicking their kid out of the house because they were mutants (especially AFTER a major incident)? Yeah, I can easily see it. I think anyone who is part of a minority can.

There are idiots and bigots in every family. Heck, somebody in my Familiy has big trouble with the fact that I and my brother were born not in a marriage (and our parents never married afterwards either). I am literally a Bastard Child, but honestly nobody important gives a damn about that. I even think it is one reason why my parrents are still on such good terms after thier breakup.

 

Just because some people are idiots there is no point in asuming everyone is an idiot. If you do it's propably based more around you already expecting the worst from anywhere. I stopped watching TV, because the NewsTainment brought me to many overdrawn stories that made me think the world was worse then setting of Shadownrun 2070 or what Marvel has (minus the Superpowers/Supernatural/Supertech parts).

[Nadrakas]

2. In a way you forced a "Us vs Them", because anything on the level of "War against X" will result in X trying to defend it's freedom. Wheter X is Drugs, Terrorism or Mutants is not really relevant.

You could make the "Us" a bit more inclusive by including the family of the mutants and other "normals" as others suggested. But overall you have at least two clearly defined factions that are at clear odds about one thematic. And one side is willing to use force, with no other (like the law) clearly stepping in.

 

1. Wait, Soceity or Government? There is a lot of interaction in the Soceity where the Government has no reach. What you describe is the Government acting against mutants, but the Soceity not nessesarily following. A large part of Marvels "sucks to be a mutant" verse is based around large parts of Soceity condemming mutants more then the actual government (and the government is at tops following directions that are already there). Some people mentioned the successfull protection of Jews and Disabeled people against Nazie Germany.

Also Soceities are notoriously factured in several subgroups that partially overlap.

 

There are idiots and bigots in every family. Heck, somebody in my Familiy has big trouble with the fact that I and my brother were born not in a marriage (and our parents never married afterwards either). I am literally a Bastard Child, but honestly nobody important gives a damn about that. I even think it is one reason why my parrents are still on such good terms after thier breakup.

 

Just because some people are idiots there is no point in asuming everyone is an idiot. If you do it's propably based more around you already expecting the worst from anywhere. I stopped watching TV, because the NewsTainment brought me to many overdrawn stories that made me think the world was worse then setting of Shadownrun 2070 or what Marvel has (minus the Superpowers/Supernatural/Supertech parts).

NewsTainment...isn't that the Truth.  I like that -- may have to use it in the future (if you don't mind, that is...).

 

 

~ M

[BlueCloud2k2]

I thought it was InfoTainment.... *shrug*

[Nadrakas]

I thought it was InfoTainment.... *shrug*

There is news -- though I think that usually the "news" has to do more with the people reporting the InfoTainment

 

~ M

[kahuna's bro]

for an example might I suggest the CW' version of the tomorrow people?

[Christopher]

I thought it was InfoTainment.... *shrug*

I meant NewsTainment as a derogatory term for News that is more cocerned with "getting viewers" by providing a "good show", then actuall unbiased Information distribution.

So just about every news show on any private TV Channel. And most of the Print Press.

 

If I hadn't stopped watching those, I would propably be a paranoid nutcase that thinks there is a Taliban aroudn every corner by now.

 

If they have to sell the adds that run before, after and between the news, I would not trust any media about any information.

[Cancer]

The best.  Or the worst.  Depending on your ability to employ basic grammar.

I have numerous students who laid off their grammar long ago, and get by on outsourcing their written language needs to cheap copy-paste contractors.

[Nadrakas]

I have numerous students who laid off their grammar long ago, and get by on outsourcing their written language needs to cheap copy-paste contractors.

Hmmm...I'm in the need for a Job.

 

(Just kidding...while I do need a job, I'd prefer people to actually do their own work and stay "honest")

 

 

~ M